Rotary hydraulic torque converter



Oct. 7, 1952 B. szczENlowsKl ROTARY HYDRAULC TORQUE CONVERTER '4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 20, 1947 3 MIM B. SZCENIOWSKI ROTARY HYDRAULIC TORQUE CONVERTER Oct. 7, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet. 2

Filed March 20, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet- IIIIIIIIIIIIII/II.

i [Clt B. SZCZENIOWSKI ,uuwuu ROTARY HYDRAULIC TORQUE CONVERTR Oct. 7, 1952 Filed March 20, 1947 0.4 ot 48 :load-1: a/rarflon Oct. 7,1952 B.szczEN1owsK| 2,612,755

ROTARY HYDRAULIC TORQUE CONVERTER Filed March 20, 1947 4 shets-sh' 4 INVENTOR Patented Oct. 7, 1952 UNITED srr Canad Application March 20, 1947, Serial No. 736,086 In Canada April 10, 1946 ,1 w My invention relates t improvements in hydraulic power transmission of the kind of a hydraulic torque converter, in which the conversion of torque and speed is effected by means of two bladed rotors: pump impeller, driven by any kind of engine (internal combustion, steam, electric, etc.), and turbine runner, driving the secondary shaft, while being rotated'by reaction with a fluid pumped by the pump impeller. The primary shaft, on which the pump' impeller is mounted, will be termed in the following as driving shaft, in respe-ct to the transmission as described; consequently, the secondary shaft, carrying turbine runner, will be termed driven shaft.

As is known, the two principal groups of hydraulic losses occurring in fluid motion throughout hydraulic transmission are: (a) friction loss and Vortexes in the fiowing stream, and possibly also shocks, if abrupt changes of direction of fiow, discontinuities of cross-section, dead zones, etc., occur in the channel; (b) hydrodynamic shock loss, occurring at every passage from one bladed element to the other, and due to the abrupt change in the direction of Velocity vectors. There are foursuch passages in a transmission composed of two running elements: at the pump exit, at the turbine inlet, at the turbine exit, and, finally, at the pump inlet.

Friction loss and vortexes in the flow may be reduced to a minimum by having inner channel wall surfaces as smooth as feasible and, which is more important, by employing a geometrical form of channel as smooth and slanting vas possible along the whole path traversed by the working fluid. VThus, any fiuid passage should be made as gradual as possible; abrupt changes of the cross-section and sharp angles in the channel form should be avoided; abrupt changes of direction of flow and dead'zones in it should be eliminated. p

It is known both from theoretical investigation and from experience that shock loss is much more important than friction loss. On the other hand, it is more difficult to avoid, because it depends on many f'actors such as the primary speed, the ratio of primary to secondary speed, the ratio of primary to secondary torque, etc., all these factors being variable with the Operating conditions of the torque converter. If [all blades, in rotors and in stators as well, are ri'gid, the angles of blade ends at the four above-mentioned passages may be chosen so as to 'avoid any shock loss in one specific case only, i. e. under one given group of olxerating:v conditions v(speecls, torques, etc). If any one ofthe parameters involved is altered,

mm. (on. 60-54) i these angles cease to be correct and should be adjusted, according to careful study of changes in thevelocity triangles, this being necessaryat any of the said four main points of the flow path.l

Generally speaking, the role of stationaryl guide (or guides) in a hydraulic torque 'converter'is twofold. First, it is the question of imparting a certain moment of momentumto the fiuid. in

order to increase the secondary torque' beyond the V'value of the primary torque. Second, is the question of forcing the fiuid to leave o 'r enter the consecutive bladed elements of a converter at angles such as are necessary to avoid shock losses. To increase the secondary torque, one -stationary guide (placed either between pump exit andturbine inlet or between turbine exit and pump inlet) is, in principle, sufiicient. Sofar as shock 'losses are concerned, stationary guides may be point` of physical phenomena.

Thus, to obtain a fully |correct solution, 'an

alternative remains; I y bladed guides, one between pump exit Vand tur- .bine inlet, and the other between turbine exit and pump inlet, all the four blade ends in these two stationary guides being adjustable.

S0 far as friction loss and vortexes are concerned, as well as any possible shockloss within the channel formed by the adj acent blades of 'any bladed element of the converter, it is obvious that the system of blades, each being rigid butV pivoting on a certain axis, has to be rejected. v'VI'he alternative is to introduce fiexible blades,"fi'."e. blades both ends of which are made of flexiblle material, such as for instance spring steel sheet of constant or variable thickness. Such blades will be able to bend and change positions at their ends without creating any sharp angle along their length. One of the possible solutions is shown in Fig. 4 as an example. Of course, any other suitable solution known from pra-ctice may also b'e applied. w A

A further object of my invention is the application of an automatic blade control by means of oil pressure as obtained at pump exit for instance. As is known, the pressure of the working fluid (e. g. oil) is a function of the slip, i. e. of the difference between primary: and secondary speeds }(or their ratio) With increasing slip the pressure to applyv two stationary decreases while the oil circulation increases. On the other hand, the four blade angles to be adjusted are also functions of the slip. We, therefore, can establish the relation between the oil pressure and the blade angles desirable under any Operating conditions, and can apply a control unit as shown, for inst-ance, in Fig. 5, in which the controlling device Zitself infiuences the blades to' be controlled not directly but through a servo-motor. The force delivered by this servo-motor to act upon the blades may be, of course, chosen as great as is necessary to assure anexact response of the blades to the given oil pressure, whatever may be the resistance of the blades to bending.

Still another o bject of my invention is the application of double blade control. The control .by means of oil pressure is valid only in the case of some given primary speed, which remains constant. But in many practical cases, for instance in automobiles, this speed has to be variable within' wide -limits .On the other hand, oil pres- 'sureis'the function not only 'of the slip butalso vofthe'primary speed. Therefore, I introduce 'a ccntrifugal'regulator (as shown in Fig. 1) whose is toact on the tension of spring 4| ncon- .trol `'unit represented .in Fig. 5, in 'order to counterbalance the effect of changes in oil preslsure 'due to -varia-tions in primary speed.

FSuch adou-ble automatic .control enables usto -mainta.in a very Vhigh value of efiiciency both for everyichosenspeed ratio '(i. e. slip) and for every 'value 'of' primary speed. This is proved by xtheoreticalrcomputations based on hydrodynamic theory "of my torque converter; thelresult's are illustrated in Fig. 6.

far as the secondary torque is concerned, its increasing has to -be quick enough with the Vgrowing 'slip in order to have a good acceleration. .Furthermore' its value at full slip (i. e. atstarting` must be high enough-not less than five times theprimary torque.. Both lof these conditions r'can bexeasily fulfilled in my .hydraulic torque -converter'fby ai'suitable .choosing' of fixed blade angles in thetwo runners (pump and turbine), asresultszfrom the theory of my torque converter. In addition, there is a .connection .between the :starting secondary torque and the qualityof the efficiency curve as shown -i-n Fig. 6;.the .better vthis latter,| the greater theformer. 'I-'he efliciency curve of' my torqueconverter is, .of course, acytuaily very good, thanks to the continuous and automatic-control of blade angles. Actually, the 'starting secondary torque in my hydraulic transzmi'ssion'is' of the .order of 5.6 times the primary torque, whichisenough to eliminate the necessity 'of' ;any combinations with mechanical devices such as gear-box, free-wheel, mechanical cou- :pling, fetc., orcombinations with other hydraulic It is also tobe observed, in addition, that, :at the direct -drive (with .minimum slip) the ef- Vficiency-.of my converter issufficiently high, being comparable With that ofv fluid coupling, while V the 'shortcomings of the latter .are avoided.. The -flnal result is a'one-stage, purely hydraulic, trans- 'mission of great simplicity. and automatic opera- .tion showing absolute smoothness in continuously yariable transmission of speedand torque.

In the drawings:

- Fig. 1 is a sideelevational view, partially in section, -of a hydraulic Vpower transmiss-ion constructed according tomy invention;

. Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view, partiallyibroken away, of the unit as shown in Fig. 1;

' Fig. 3 is yan enlarged, detail, perspective, exvplodedview-of part of .one -ofthe flow-directing '4 blades of my transmission unit and the cam-operating mechanism therefor; v

Fig. 4 is an inverted plan view of the detail shown in Fig. 3; o

Fig. 5 i-s an enlargedcross-sectional view of a hydraulic control mechanism taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a chart indicating .graphically the operating characteristics vof av hydraulic power transmission constructed according to my invention;

Eig. '7 is a plan view of a cam, serving to adjustV blade angles of stationary guides, as placed in'a slot'made in sleeve, the displacement of which cau'ses the cam to rotate.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in'the different views.

The operation of my hydraulic transmission is as'follows:

In casing are journalled dr-iving shaft 2 carrying. a pumpimpeller, and `a .driven shaft 4 carrying aturbine runner 5. As .illustrated, both these .rotors .are .of what. might be .described .as hemi-.toroidal shape,' having a pair of lspaced .shells 6.and 'l with rigid vanes 8 therebetween.

The interior of casing is `filled with oil or other hydraulic fluid. Sleeves 9 and IO, rigidly. .securedin casing I form an annular hydraulic fluid passage from the outer .periphery of-pump=impeller 3 to the outerperiphery of turbine runner 5,- and sleeves and l2 Vform an annular fiuid -passage from the inner periphery of turbine runner 5 to the'inner periphery of pump impeller 3.

The oil pa'ssing through pump 3 between a set of rigd 'blades 8 (-onlytwo of .them shown in Fig. 2) increases its velocityand pressure andv passes to the stationary guide .composed of a pluralty of adjustable'blades 13,1fixedblades .|.5 .and adjustable blades 13 (only Fone-of .eachishown in Fig. 2), which communicate to .the oil. 'some amount of reaction torque. .In turbine 5 .the Velocity and pressure of .the oil .passing between a i vset of rigid blades 8 (onlyone of themshown in Fig.'2) drop,,gving impulsionto the blades. The energy is then transmitted .to the output (driven) .shaft 4, from whichthe -output .power is taken. Space 49 .playszthe role 'of .'oil reservoir A(the. auxiliary oil pump, necessary .to .assure a complete filling of the oil fiow duct andtoavoid cavitation.

.is not shown, as it maybe regarded as-aknown,

conventional device). The. oil then .passes throughthe other .stationary guide consisting .of a .plurality of'adjusta'ble blades L6, fixed .blades |4, .and adjustableblades 46 (onlyzone of each shown in Fig. 2), rwhichcommunicate to the 4fiuid some amount of positive .or negative reaction torque. Finally the oil returns to pumpimpeller 3.

. The adjustable blades are-intended .tol act. .as single fiexible units, but in actual construction each blade consists .of afixed `portion .IS rigidly secured between .sleeves 9 and -10 andnexible portions r16. .As best illustrated in Figures 3. and 4, fiexible portions .IS of .blades I3.zand/or 14 .are made of spring .steel lor some .other readily bendable lmaterial and are .fixedat vone end .l 1 ,in bosses |8 .non-rotatably secured, one in .each 'of the `sleeves 9 and IO .in the case of V'blades 43, `andone in each of sleeves ll and-.IZ in the caseof .blades 14, while the other end of po'rtion .I 6.0f the blades is ,provided with ears 80., one of which zslides rin a vblind slot |9.in the. disc-like'head V2|.) .of acam element rotatable on .shank 2| passng through .one of sleeves Ill or H and terminatingin acam 22, and the other earof 'which slidesin thesl'otted in' one or the other of a pair of cam sleeves 24 and 25, respectively, which are rigidly secured together to be movable as a unit` longitudinally of the transmission unit by means such as tie rods 26,` of which only one of a number is shown in the drawing. Thus far it `w'ill be noted that when sleeves 24 and 25 are moved as a unit longitudinally of the transmission unit, in which case the moton of cam sleeve 2d as shown in Fig. 4.- is along the line :c-x of that gure, in effect the ends, i. e. portions IG, of the blade lwill be fiexed out of the normal center line of the blades, and that cam slots 23 in the inner and outer portions of sleeves 24 and 25 respectively are set at opposlte angles so that the'extremities of blades Id i are flexed in the o-ppo'ste` direction to the extremities of blade I3. Thus, moving the rigidlyconnected sleeves 24 and as a unit, longitudinally of the ax'is of the transmission, causes blades I3 and IQ, which divide the annular space between sleeves 9 and IB and I I andvI2 respectively into a number of flow paths, to flex uniformly lout of a more nearly straight shape to a more curved shape, or vice versa. I

The form of cam 22 is chosen so as to have correct blade angle changes in function of the position of sleeves 24. or 25,'i. e. in function of the pressure difference in the control unit, this 'latter being described in greater detail below. In

Fig. 7 an example of a form of` cam 22, as placed n slot 23 vof sleeve 24 is shown in one opsition in full lines and in another position in dotted lines. As is seen, after sleeve 24 has been moved in the direction :c-zc to a distance 'c, cam 22 was forced to'turn at an angle a, this'latter being dependent only on the cam form, if inclination of slot 22 to the direction -x is given. Thus, disclike head 2D of the cam element was turned also, causing blade IG to bend at the same angle.

' sionunit, as' shown, for ,eiamplabn the inner edge of shell 'I of the pumpimpeller.v Such ring' `1`6 l'of the fiuid pumped'byjimpeller- 3 is conducted to cylinder 29 through meanssuch' as 1pipe'il, i

passing through sleeve I!! at 'a point adjacent to impeller 3 and connected via inlet- 34-zto a second and smaller cylinder 35, provided withv freepiston 36, and orifice 31 in thewall 'communicating with cylinder 23. Also4 slidable cylinder 35 is a second piston v:iii provided with'shaft 40 extending ,through fthe end wall of thefcylinder, while pistons and 39 are spaced apart by spring 4|. The fiuidpressure in'cylinder 2 9 maybebled 'off through one of a series of orificesp42 inwall ipin accordance rwith the respective positions of pistons and 36,while orifices'4 3, 43 'in-.the

walls of cylinders 29 and maintain'th e open ends of pistons 3,9 and- 35=at thelow .pressureof the inlet of impeller 3. l The free extremity of shaft 'llof piston 39 makes frictional contact with an idlerring M slidable along the central axis ofthe transmis- M is 'provided With flange 45 which, frictionally engages a tapered skirt 46 on each of a plurality of governor weights 41 which arefreely rotatable V and sl'idable on rods (iii securedin shellilf of V.the

pump impeller, whereby ring 4.41 normally'rides with its flange Ii adjacent toA weights 41 due to aXis ofthe impeller, causing skirtsMi tobear againstv fiange 25 of ring M and to move ;the

` may be described as follows.

In considering the operation of sleeves 2d and 25 as a unit, it should be noted that sleeves 9 and Iil and II and I2, respectively, are rigidly secured in the transmission housing as, for example, by having sleeve 9 secured to the outei` casing of the transmission and sleeve IB secured to sleeve II by an integral web 21, fand sleeve I2 rigidly secured to sleeve II by making blade sections I5 between the two sleeves integralwith the sleeves.

The flexing of blades Is and Ill at the desired angle, in accordance with the Operating requirements of the transmission, is effected by, means such as the hydraulic actuating unit indicated generally by the reference numeral 28. Of course,

this actuating unit, shown in section in Fig. 5; is at the same time an automatic control unit. It is mounted on web 2'I and consists of hydraulic cylinder 29 in which piston 30 is slidable. This piston 39 is provided with a pistonrodl 'which passes through the end wall of cylinder 29 and is secured to sleeve 25, whereb'y, since unit 28 is rigidly secured to web 27, when pressureis exerted in cylinder 29, piston 3B moves outwardly of the cylinder to move sleeve 25 and the connectecl sleeve 2d longitudinally of thetransmission. Thus, piston 31) plays the role of a servomotor; its diameter may also be so chosen as' to' certainly have on hand the force 'necessary to bend all the blades to be adjusted; while only oneV unit 2B is shown in the drawings, a' number of them may also be used in this connection.

Spring 32 tends to return piston 38 against pressure in cylinder 29. The hydraulic pressure cylinder 35 and orifice '31 into cylinder 29 of 'acring toiward control unit 22.

' The operation of the transmissionas; af whole When shaft '2 is driven, causing pump impeller 3 to pump the hydraulic liquid through the annular spaces between sleeves 9 and II) to turbine runner 5 and then back through the annular spaces between sleeves I I and I2 from the turbine runner, the hydraulic pressure produced at the outer periphery of the pump impeller is transmitted through pipe 33,

tuating unit 28, moving lpiston 35 and shaft 3|, thuscausing connected sleeves 24 and 25 to move toward the pump impeller and causing cam slots 23 to engage cams 22 to rotate disc heads 20 and thereby impart more curve to ,blades 83 and II. Simultaneously, the pump pressure, acting on piston 35 against the reaction of spring M, causes piston '36 to move until it takes a position correspondmg to a state of equilibrium between the spring M on the one side ofthis'piston 36 and the oil pressure on the other side. Piston Sfllmust i follow the moton of piston 3.6 to almost close off whichever of orifices l2 happens to be adjacent to the left edge of piston 35. Thus, to any given oil pressure there corresponds a given position 'of equilibrium of piston 36', this latter defining (composed of pis- 44 toward control unit 23, vthereby causing shaft 40 and connected piston 39 to compress spring 4| against piston 38, which then may move to uncover more of orifices 42 and to establishan equilibrium in another position of pistons 36 land .nm'elsez inV primary speed. .The :form i of. .skirts :llf is;l :of icourse, :so .chosen la's :to ;suitL the: actual functional 'dependence :between oil pressure. and 'primary speed.

'=.'.'I?hus the'anglesof ends of Vblades 13 and .H will "always 'be automatically: adjusted to 'the best angle'for'maintaining the high torque and power ltransmission eifici'ency in the unit in accordance 'bothfwith'the'relative speeds of the two rotors .and with 'the absolute speed of the pump impeller.

' -While'I'have'describ'd vand illustrated one em- `-bodimentof =my improved power transmission, it "'isto lbe understood that such vdisclosure is purely for the purpose of'illustration, and is intended to imposeino limitations oni the scope of my invenv'tionibeyond'those-set forth'in theiappended claim.

What I claim as my inventionis: A'rotary hydraulic torque converter including "a huusing'; a drive 'shaft entering one end of said housing; animpeller rigidly secured to said drive lshaft at a 'point within the housng; a driven "shaftfleaving the other end of said housing, said drive'shaftv andv driven shafts being axially 'a'ligned; 'a turbine rigidly secured to said driven shaft,said impeller 'and turbine being of .similar hemi-toroidal' Shape and longitudinally spaced apart within .said housing; four sleeves rigidly mounted within said casing between said impeller andv said turbine, said sleeves'being arranged in pairs to 'form two annular passageways, oneconnectingthe impeller outlet and the turbine inlet,

o the other connecting the turbine outlet and the 'tending centrally between the pairs of sleeves `.which formthe passageways; an hydraulic-cylinder 'mounted'by said web; a piston :and a'piston rod'inisaid cylinder; a conduit for. hydraulic fiuid leading 'from .said first-mentioned passageway, at a point adjacent said'impeller outlet, to said'rcylinder; a pair of cam sleeves slidably mounted between the sleeves forming said passageways, 'the cam sleeves being disposed on opposite sides of said web and the cylinder carried thereby, said cam sleeves being tied together so that movement imparted to one is also applied to the other, said piston rod being connected to one of said cam sleeves; cam slots in vsaid cam sleeves; 'cams mounted in said sleeves forming said annular passageways, said cams 'being actuable by said cam slots to bendithe exible porticns of said blades in said passageways whenever changesin the pressure of fiuid directed to said cylinder imparts movement to said piston thereby moving said piston rod and said pair of cam sleeves, `the pressure of said fluid being responsive to the speeds of said drive shaft and said driven shaft; and additional means responsive directly to the speed of said drive shaft for varying the influence upon said piston of pressure fiuid fed through said conduit.

BOLESLAW SZCZENIOWSKI.

REFERENCES CITED The following wreferences are of record in .the file of this patent:

` UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,162,543 Banner June 13, 1939 2,168,862 Sensaud de Lavaud Aug. 8, 1939 2,205,'794 J andasek June 25,, 1940 2,327,647 J andasek Aug. 24, 1943 

